PRACTICE
Listen to Understand
If we hope to be part of the world’s healing, we must first understand it as it really is. Paul Tillich said, “love’s first act is to listen” and this week we consider what it means to embrace this posture of curiosity as a good neighbor.
Watch the video HERE.
GOSPEL
John 3:1-17 (NRSV)
Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a leader of the Jews. He came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with that person.” Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be astonished that I said to you, ‘You must be born from above.’ The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?
“Very truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and testify to what we have seen, yet you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you about earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you about heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.
“Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world but in order that the world might be saved through him.
DISCUSSION
Small Group Reflection Questions for March 5 - March 11
• Why not just “Listen”? Why do you think “Listen to understand” is an important distinction when it comes to being a good neighbor, particularly across lines of difference?
• This peacemaking practice is paired with the principle of “growth: change is possible.” In the Scripture passage, how do you see either Nicodemus or Jesus listening to understand in a way that contributed to Nicodemus’s change/growth?
• Describe an experience you’ve had when ‘listening to understand’ changed your perspective.
• When we see injustice, we can often want to rush to fix it or solve what we see as the problem. Listening to understand can help us see the world the way it is — why do you think that’s important to do before we cast a vision for how we want the world to be?
Access the full small group guide HERE.
POEMS
“I chose these poems with the Practice in mind, specifically the part that speaks of seeing the world as it actually is before hoping to heal the world. These poem grapple with the tension between hoping and despairing at the world.” - Drew Jackson
FROM BEHIND BARS
From behind bars it’s hard
to see if the long arc
of the moral universe
is bending toward justice.
I have heard reports of a movement,
working to bring change,
but all I can see are COs and prison guards
laughing at talk of abolition.
And I laugh
to cover up the fact
that my hope is waning.
Little light remains in this dungeon.
Is this really you?
Is this really a God move?
Or should I just keep waiting
with the patience that killed the ancestors?
Taken from God Speaks Through Wombs: Poems on God’s Unexpected Coming (InterVarsity Press)
A HARVEST OF DREAMERS
After Langston Hughes’s “Dreams”
There is a direct connection
between our capacity to imagine
and our ability to see.
We were like those who dream
until they stole our fortunes
and trampled on our ambition.
We are born with a proclivity
to visualize beyond the visible.
We honed this skill as children.
They pilfered our progeny,
robbed our hope of a future harvest,
and turned our artists into puppets.
Hold fast to dreams.
The farmer sees the yield
before the field produces.
Our wings have been clipped.
This field
frozen with snow.
Above poem taken from Touch the Earth: Poems on The Way (InterVarsity Press)
SONG
This week we focus on a song about change written by Cat Stevens, covered here by the Good Shepherd Collective.
“Yes we all now it’s better, yesterday has passed. Now let’s all start living for the one that’s gonna last.”
- “Changes IV"” by Cat Stevens
Listen to the Good Shepherd Collective cover HERE.
ASSIGNMENT
This week, learn a story from someone new. Sounds intimidating! It doesn’t have to be. Sit down with a co-worker you don’t know well, or a neighbor you usually just run into and say ‘hi’ in passing. Or, if you’re very brave, strike up a conversation with someone on the subway or at a bar. You don’t have to get their life story – just a story. Find out something about them and be prepared to tell the group about it next week.
Some potential prompts if you’re not sure what to ask:
1. Where did you grow up? What did you love about it?
2. What brought you to New York City?
3. What do you like to do to help you survive winter?
4. If you have a Saturday free, how do you like to spend it?
5. What do you love most about your neighborhood?
Experiment:
Tell the story you learned as if you are the person. As in, tell the story in the first person. Ideally, starting out with “Hi, my name is [name of the person you talked to]” and then sharing the rest of the story with an “I/me/my” perspective.